Inas didn’t speak for a long time. Was he in shock? Nigel wondered, but there wasn’t the slightest change in his expression. If anything, Inas looked far too composed for someone who’d just been told they were being dumped—so much so that it was Nigel, the one who brought it up, who began to feel unsettled.
To be honest, even calling them lovers felt like a stretch. They’d only kissed a few times and never even gone out properly. More than anything, it had always been Nigel who turned his back and left Inas behind.
Maybe saying they should break up had been too harsh.
But he’d made the call for a reason. Even if time had been rewound, dating the man who’d killed his brother still weighed heavily on his conscience… and more than anything, like Kay had said, he wanted to see what Inas would do if things turned sour again. Would he start looking elsewhere?
But if Kay had been wrong, then all he’d done was hurt someone for no reason. No matter how the world rewound, time for the two of them still flowed along the same line. Even if the world reset, what was happening now wouldn’t just vanish between them.
He was debating whether to pretend he hadn’t said anything at all when their eyes met. And on Inas’s lips, there appeared a smile—one that looked as if it had been carefully painted on.
“Is it because I killed Etna?”
“Yeah.”
“……Nigel.”
“I just need time to think.”
That was the best Nigel could offer right now. Even though he still had feelings for Inas—even though this slender, sixteen-year-old version of him made Nigel’s heart ache—there was still a stubborn unease clinging to the corners of his mind. He couldn’t be with Inas while feeling like this.
Inas scanned him with a face that gave away nothing. His gaze was piercing, like he wanted to peel Nigel open and lay him bare. After a long moment, Inas’s expression tightened ever so slightly.
“You stopped liking me for something like that?”
“Something like that?”
“Yes. You’re breaking up with me because I killed Etna, aren’t you?”
Nigel’s eyes narrowed with a flash of fury. Inas’s tone was so light, so casual. If you didn’t know the situation, you’d think they were arguing over a stolen cookie or something just as petty.
His softened resolve instantly hardened, and the anger and suspicion that had quieted boiled back up. This—this was what pissed him off about Inas. Who the hell could keep dating someone who killed their family like it was no big deal?
“For most people, that’s a perfectly valid reason to break up.”
“There’s another Etna up there somewhere. Time got rewound—he should be fine. It’s just unfortunate we came back to this point in time…”
So Inas didn’t even know why they’d returned to this point? Instead of explaining further, he just smiled.
“If you want, Nigel, this time I’ll wait until I see suspicious signs before killing him.”
Not “I won’t kill him at all,” but “I’ll wait and see.” At this point, Nigel wasn’t even angry anymore—he was just dumbfounded. He raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“You’re saying you won’t kill my brother?”
“Yes.”
“But if you see something fishy, you will kill him?”
“I won’t have a choice.”
“What kind of fucking lunatic are you?”
“Nigel. Children shouldn’t use such vulgar language.”
Was he seriously trying to mock him right now? Nigel nearly hurled something at him but barely managed to restrain himself.
“Must be nice being able to just ‘think about it casually.’ I can’t do that. I can’t be at ease around someone who murdered my brother.”
“But think about it, Nigel. Etna’s already dead. What’s so wrong about putting a dead man back the way he was? And even if I had killed someone from your living family, I still don’t get why that means we have to break up.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Etna’s a stranger. I don’t understand why a stranger should be allowed to mess with our relationship.”
And with that, Nigel’s patience finally snapped.
“To you, maybe! But to me, he’s family!”
“Is family more important than me?”
“What?”
“Some blood relation—do you really think that’s meaningful in the face of eternity?”
Inas sneered.
“He couldn’t even stay by your side. I stayed with you longer than your family ever did. I’d give up everything for you. But you’re telling me that your family’s more important?”
Nigel’s mouth flapped open, but no words came out. Whatever he said, Inas wouldn’t listen. Even the urge to talk vanished. It felt like arguing with a wall.
He wasn’t even asking Inas to care about his family—just not to kill them. Was that really so hard to understand? Nigel gave up trying to explain. The fatigue hit him like a wave, and all he wanted was to stop thinking about any of it.
“Yeah, you wouldn’t get it. And I don’t get you either. That’s why I’m saying we’re done.”
“I need to stay by your side, Nigel.”
Inas murmured gloomily in response to Nigel’s harsh tone. It was so uncharacteristic that Nigel, for a second, forgot he wanted to punch him and stared.
This Inas looked younger than in Nigel’s memory—slimmer, more delicate, giving off a far more fragile impression than the adult version. Still, he was beautiful. Nigel had always liked how dignified and handsome Inas was, like a man born to rule, but this version… this version carried the sharp, sensitive beauty that Inas had gradually outgrown as he matured.
That face… that’s why I fell for him. Nigel could list dozens of reasons he liked Inas, but if he traced it back, it started with that face. No matter what anyone said, it had been love at first sight.
Just staring at that face he loved so much… he could feel his fury start to fade.
“……”
No—he couldn’t give in. If he caved here, he’d be halfway to accepting that insane logic. Inas could throw around outrageous shit, but so could he. Nigel tore his gaze away from Inas and pulled himself together.
“You want to stay with me?”
“Yes, Nigel.”
“Then choose. Stay by my side and break up. Or keep dating me and disappear from my sight.”
“……Nigel.”
“If you don’t pick one, I’ll start hating you. Every day. I’ll try my best to hate you. No—I’ll stop giving a damn altogether.”
Nigel shot the words at the floor, fast and sharp. It was petty, absurd, and totally irrational—but so was Inas’s nonsense. Reason was useless here. No matter what Inas said, he was just going to dig in his heels and see who gave in first.
“……Understood. Let’s break up.”
But Inas answered without hesitation, as if all of Nigel’s fire had been for nothing.
Nigel couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. He checked Inas’s expression.
As always, it was calm.
“I thought you’d be more stubborn…”
The words slipped out, too much like a whine, and Nigel immediately regretted them. Inas didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m satisfied as long as I can stay near you.”
He said it softly, almost docilely. It was Nigel who’d said they should break up, yet the answer left him feeling hollow and bitter. He sneered at himself.
What had he even wanted—Inas to beg? Maybe. But even if that were true, he couldn’t get angry over Inas’s reaction. He wasn’t that shameless. Stuffing down the tangle of emotions in his chest, Nigel waved a hand.
“Fine. Then get out.”
“……”
Inas didn’t respond. Didn’t move. He just sat there. Nigel figured he’d leave on his own eventually, but minutes passed, and Inas didn’t budge.
“Inas?”
Only when Nigel called him did Inas lift his gaze, just slightly, to meet his.
“You’re not going?”
“…No, I’m going. Sleep well, Nigel.”
With a faintly polite smile, Inas stood. But the moment he put his hand lightly on the chair—made from the sturdy wood of the Pagan Mountains—it splintered like a twig. That wood was so tough, it was used to beat monsters even swords couldn’t pierce. No one could break it without real force.
“Why did it suddenly—”
Nigel’s eyes trailed up from the wrecked chair and met Inas’s gaze.
“……”
Inas’s expression was still placid. There was no obvious hostility, no threatening aura. But Nigel had known him long enough to sense it—that subtle, jarring wrongness underneath the perfect calm.
“I’m sorry. That was a mistake.”
…Beneath it all was a seething storm of rage and confusion.
Inas slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. He was clearly suppressing fury that threatened to boil over at any moment.
So all this time, he hadn’t been fine at all. Nigel had just failed to notice. Inas had been holding it in—over and over—until now, when it looked like it might finally explode.
“Rest well, Nigel.”
With a courteous bow, Inas vanished beyond the space before Nigel could say another word.
“……”
Nigel rubbed his sweaty palms against the blanket.
Looking back… maybe Inas’s refusal to budge earlier had been a desperate reaction to everything being thrown at him. After all, yesterday, as soon as he saw Inas, Nigel had burst into tears and pushed him away with everything he had.
Should he be relieved that the breakup pissed Inas off enough to shake him? Or was it more worrying that he might’ve pushed him too far?
“Ugh…”
Right now, he was just exhausted. His head ached too much to keep thinking.
Suddenly, he wanted to see his family. His father. And…
“Etna.”
His brother, who’d died so meaninglessly in the last loop.
As if trying to keep himself from falling back toward Inas, Nigel forced himself to think about Etna.
Inas had said he wouldn’t kill him—for now—so he could wake him. But there had to be a reason Inas hated him that much… Besides, in this body, he couldn’t even climb the window he used to scale with ease, let alone reach the temple. Its entrance was full of traps; navigating it without a guide would be near impossible.
First, he needed to recover enough memories to be sure about Inas.
<It’s better to forget.>
A system window popped up, responding to Nigel’s thoughts.
<Never remember this again.>
<You don’t want to remember.>
I do want to remember.
He repeated the thought again and again—and the window melted away like ice.
<You’ll regret it.>
I won’t. Muttering under his breath, Nigel closed his eyes.
